Punching mechanism with tool smoothing means



July 6, 1965 J. D. AMATO PUNCHING MECHANISM WITH TOOL SMOOTHING MEANS Filed Oct. 50, 1962.

2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. JACK D. AMATO J. D. AMATO July 6, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 50, 1962 United States Patent 3,192,811 PUNQEHN G IWZE QHANidM WITH TGQL SMQGTHENG MEANS Each 3). Amate, Norridge, ill, assiguor to Arvey Corporation, Chicago, 223., a corporation of Deiaware Fiied Get. 39, 196i, Ser. No. 234,945 Qlaims. (ill. S3174) This invention pertains to the punching of regularly spaced holes in printed business forms on a printing machine. These holes are generally punched in a marginal edge portion and serve various purposes such as assembling a plurality of printed sheets so that the printing thereon will be in alignment, that is, the carbon copies will be aligned with the original. Another purpose of the punched holes is so that the business forms can be fed through business machines by means of the punched holes for similar purposes of alignment in printing or typing information on the forms by the business machines.

For such purposes, it is essential that the punched holes be not only accurately spaced but accurate in outline. One particular problem has been with respect to hangers; that is, incompletely punched out pieces which remain hanging. This, of course, is highly objectionable in that it interferes with the operation of business machines; interferes with certain devices which are used for assembling a plurality of sheets after they leave the printing machine; and objectionable in appearance so that even though the punched holes no longer have any function after they reach the customer it would be undesirable to leave them in the assembled business forms;

With some multiple sheet forms used at present there is required one-half inch of extra paper in which to punch the holes for alignment, which punched portion must be removed before the product is delivered to the customer. Obviously if clean holes without hangers could be consistently provided, it would be possible to place these holes in some part of the business form which would not of necessity be torn off and would thus save one-half inch of paper.

At present the punches of which there are a number, say for example ten or more, secured to and extending radially from the periphery of a driven roll become deformed so that a half moon elevated ridge is formed on the trailing edge of the punch. Although I do not wish to be limited thereto, I believe that the abnormal elevation formed on the trailing edge portions of the punches is caused by one or more of the following: abrasion against paper stock; chemicals in the paper and paper coatings; by contact of the punch with the harder mating die upon leaving the cavity of the latter; and difierence in circumference of the punch ring to the circumference of the die ring.

While the punches themselves are not individually expensive, to replace or refinish them means shutting down the entire printing and punching apparatus for about twenty to thirty minutes say once in about eight hours. This adds up to considerable expense for down time and labor. One previous way of attempting to eliminate this down time was to tap the punches with a hammer to eliminate the ridge, but this rapidly resulted in cutting down the length of the punch so that deficient punching resulted.

The present invention relates to a means for continuously leveling or ironing down elevations in the punch as soon as they occur and while the machine is in operation in a continuous process by what might be described as policing means. This means comprises an idler roll mounted on an arm secured to a shaft parallel to the shaft which carries the punch roll. The arm is adjustably mounted and in use is adjusted so that the roller i'hldlfilfi ?ater1ted July 6, 1965 which it carries comes in contact with the punches only when the elevation in a surface occurs.

In other words, the leveling roller is disposed closely adjacent to but outwardly of the normal peripheral path of the punches and within the peripheral path of abnormalities elevated above said normal peripheral path. Thus, as soon as an elevation occurs it comes into the path of the ironing roll and is rolled back thereby to original position. The ironing roll is fixed in place and only functions when an edge is raised on the punch.

It has been found that the punches policed in accor ance with the present invention last for days in this manner.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention relate to details of construction, arrangement of parts, and economies thereof, and will be apparent from the following specification and accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of one end of a business form printing machine showing a pair of punching rolls for providing the business form with a regularly spaced series of apertures along a marginal portion thereof, embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional View of a pair of punching rolls illustrating the punching of marginal holes in a business form and further illustrating the punch leveling mechanism of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an end elevatioual view of the leveling mechanism of the present invention viewed on the line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIGS. 4-, 5 and 6 are further enlarged fragmentary sectional views of a pair of punching rolls illustrating the progressive movement resulting in defects in thepunches which are substantially cured by the means of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view of portions of the punching rolls of the present invention showing one of the punches mated within one of the die cavities, the punch in this case being deformed.

FIG. 8 is a section on the line 8-43 of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the punch-carrying roll illustrating the manner in which the leveling roll of the present invention policies or continuously irons out or levels abnormal elevations formed on the trailing edge portions of the successive punches.

Referring to the drawings, the reference numeral 10 indicates one side of a frame portion of a business form printing and punching mechanism, the aforesaid printing and punching mechanism being conventional and although both components are conventionally embodied in a single unit and driven in timed relation with each other, the units may be separate.

The aforesaid punching mechanism generally further comprises a pair of oppositely driven shafts such as for example the upper shaft 11 and the lower shaft 12 driven in timed relationship to each other in opposite directions by their respective meshed gears 13 and 14- by conventional motor means not shown. These shafts each carry one or more axially adjustable rolls such as the upper punch carrying rolls 15 and the lower die carrying rolls 15. These rolls are keyed to their respective shafts so that they rotate with them.

The upper roll 15 carries a plurality of angularly spaced radially extending punches generally indicatedas 17 having shanks disposed within the periphery of roll 15 and projecting a slight distance outwardly therefrom. As will be noted, these punches, as conventional, have a flattened outermost face and are shaped to taper or are undercut inwardly therefrom to the shank portion .18 which is conventionally and removably locked within theperipheral portion of the rolls 15. Complementary thereto, the lower roll 16 has disposed within the peripheral portion thereof a plurality of angularly spaced radially extending annular dies 19 having apertures Zll opening at the outer surface of the roll 16 and are adapted to cooperate with and receive the punches 17 for the purpose of continuously perforating a portion of a paper web or business form 21 as at 22.

FIGS. 4 to 6, as previously indicated, indicate the joint rotation of the rolls 15 and 16 and further illustrate the mating of the punches 17 and the dies 19, FIG. 6 indicating deformation of the trailing edge of several of the punches 17,'as at 23. Thus, as the trailing edges 23 of the punches 17 become deformed for the various reasons hereinbefore postulated, it will be noted from FIGS. 7 and 8 that when a deformed punch 17 enters the cutting edge portion 20 of the die 19 the face of the punch 17 will be less than circular and of uneven elevation so that not only will incomplete cutting result, but spacing of one aperture with respect to an adjacent aperture will be uneven. This not only results in misalignment of plies of forms to be joined together but also results in irregularities in use of advancement mechanism on business forms used for printing or typing data on the forms employed. This also leaves unsightly hangers or incompletely severed portions which not only are detrimental in attempting to align the forms but leave unsightly appendages.

Heretofore, in order to eliminate such defects it was necessary to frequently stop the operation of the apparatus to either replace a punch or to hammer the surface of one or more which. have become uneven by reason of the trailing edge portions having become elevated. In accordance with the present invention, the necessity for down time and for replacement or resurfacing of the dies, has been sharply reduced so that much greater continuity of operation is brought about with considerable attendant economy. This can be accomplished in accordance with the present invention by providing a leveling or ironing roll having a peripheral or operative surface portion disposed adjacent to but outwardly of the normal peripheral path of the faces of the punches 17, whereby abnormalities such as the half moon lips 23 which become formed in use and elevated above the normal peripheral path of the punches, in operation, are rolled back as soon as they occur or become elevated to an undesirable extent. This I accomplish in accordance with the present invention by an ironing idler roll 24 carried by the shaft 25 which in turn is carried on the frame of paper punching mechanism 10 parallel to the shafts 11 and 12.

Although the illustration of FIG. 1 shows one such roll 24 it will be understood that a plurality of such rolls may be carried on the shaft 25 and axially adjustable thereon, one being provided for each roll 15, as desired. The shaft 25 is fixedly secured within the opposed frame ends 10 of the punching mechanism (one side 16 only being shown) and may be rotatably adjusted by means of the set screw device 26 to bring the ironing roll 24- into desired position relative to the path of the punches 17.

The roll 24 which is suitably of roller bearing construction as shown in section of FIG. 3, is secured as at 27 between the forked ends 28, 28 of the arm 29. This arm 29 has a semicylindrical transverse groove therein which embraces the shaft 25 and is clamped to the latter 7 by means of the complementary cylindrical grooved section 30, which is keyed to the shaft 25 as at 31, and is secured thereto by means of the bolts and nuts 32, 32..

Thus, as illustrated in FIG. 9, the punches 17 on the roll 15 as they are caused to move past the freely rotatable rim or periphery of the ironing roll 24 are caused to have any elevations thereof such as the half moon elevations 23 at their trailing edge portions ironed or leveled out so as to leave a smoothened punch surface 17 as they pass by the leveling roll 24 to thus again substantially restore the surface of the punches 17 to original shape and fidelity and to thereby continue to out clean holes 22 in the web 21 with the attendant advantages hereinbefore described.

Although I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention it will be understood by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in the details thereof without departing from its scope as comprehended by the following claims.

I claim:

1. Mechanism for punching spaced perforations in a moving web comprising a frame, a pair of oppositely rotatable driven rolls mounted for rotation on spaced parallel shafts carried by said frame, a plurality of angularly spaced radially extending punches carried by and projecting from the peripheral surface of one of said rolls, a plurality of angularly spaced dies disposed in the other roll and opening to the periphery thereof in mating relationship to said punches, a third shaft carried by said frame parallel to said other shafts and a leveling idler roll carried by said third shaft, the peripheral surface of said leveling roll being disposed closely adjacent to but outwardly of the normal peripheral path of said punches and within the peripheral path of abnormalities elevated above said normal peripheral path.

2. Mechanism for punching spaced perforations in a moving web comprising a frame, a pair of oppositely rotatable driven rolls mounted for rotation on spaced parallel shafts carried by said frame, a plurality of angularly spaced radially extending punches carried by and projecting from the peripheral surface of one of said rolls, a plurality of angularly spaced dies disposed in the other roll and opening to the periphery thereof in mating relationship to said punches, a third shaft carried by said frame parallel to said other shafts and a leveling idler roll carried by said third shaft, the peripheral surface of said leveling roll being disposed closely adjacent to but outwardly of the normal peripheral path of said punches and within the peripheral path of abnormalities elevated above said normal peripheral path, and means for adjustably fixing the distance between said leveling roll and said punch carrying roll..

3. Punching mechanism for paper comprising a frame, an upper roll mounted for rotation on a shaft carried by said frame, a plurality of spaced radially extending punches carried by and projecting from the peripheral surface of said upper roll, a second parallel shaft carried by said frame, a lower roll mounted for rotation on said second shaft adjacent said upper roll in a direction opposite thereto, a plurality of dies disposed in said lower roll and opening to the periphery thereof in mating relationship to said punches, a third shaft carried by said frame parallel to said other shafts and a leveling idler roll carried by said third shaft disposed adjacent said upper roll, the surface of said leveling roll being disposed closely adjacent to but outwardly of the normal peripheral path of the punches on said upper roll and within the peripheral path of abnormalities elevated above said normal peripheral path.

4. Punching mechanism for paper comprising a frame, an upper roll mounted for rotation on a shaft carried by said frame, a plurality of spaced radially extending punches carried by and projecting from the peripheral surface of said upper roll, a second parallel shaft carried by said frame, a lower roll mounted for rotation on said second shaft adjacent said upper roll in a direction opposite thereto, a plurality of dies disposed in said lower roll and opening to the periphery thereof in mating relationship to said punches, a third shaft carried by said frame parallel to said other shafts, a bracket arm secured at one end to said third shaft, a leveling idler roll pivotally carried by the opposed end of said arm and disposed adjacent said upper roll, the surface of said leveling roll bemg disposed closely adjacent to but outwardly of the normal peripheral path of the punches on said upper roll and within the peripheral path of abnormalities elevated above said normal peripheral path, and means for fixedly repositioning said arm on its shaft for adjusting the distance between said leveling roll and the faces of said punches on said upper roll.

5. Punching mechanism for paper comprising a frame, a driven punch roll mounted for rotation on a shaft carried by said frame, a plurality of spaced radially extending punches carried by and projecting from the peripheral surface of said roll, and a leveling roll carried by another shaft disposed adjacent and parallel to the former on said frame, the surface of said leveling roll References (Iited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 156,162 10/74 Jaques 83174 1,984,737 12/34 Gerster 83345 X 7/57 Bornemann 83-345 X ANDREW R. JUHASZ, Primary Examiner. 

1. MECHANISM FOR PUNCHING SPACED PERFORATIONS IN A MOVING WEB COMPRISING A FRAME, A PAIR OF OPPOSITELY ROTATABLE DRIVEN ROLLS MOUNTED FOR ROTATION ON SPACED PARALLEL SHAFTS CARRIED BY SAID FRAME, A PLURALITY OF ANGULARLU SPACED RADIALLY EXTENDING PUNCHES CARRIED BY AND PROJECTING FROM THE PERIPHERAL SURFACE OF ONE OF SAID ROLLS, A PLURALITY OF ANGULARLY SPACED DIES DISPOSED IN THE OTHER ROLL AND OPENING TO THE PERIPHERY THEREOF IN MATING RELATIONSHIP TO SAID PUNCHES, A THIRD SHAFT CARRIED BY SAID FRAME PARALLEL TO SAID OTHER SHAFTS AND A LEVELING IDLER ROLL CARRIED BY SAID THIRD SHAFT, THE PERIPHERAL SURFACE OF SAID LEVELING ROLL BEING DISPOSED CLOSELY ADJACENT TO BUT OUTWARDLY OF THE NORMAL PERIPHERAL PATH OF SAID PUNCHES AND WITHIN THE PERIPHERAL PATH OF ABNORMALITIES ELEVATED ABOVE SAID NORMAL PERIPHERAL PATH. 